Bob on satellite radio XM remembers Bob Marley as part of Black History Month

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Now they gone off on their ego trip/Blast off on their space ship/ Million miles from reality/ Don't care for you, don't care for me
- Bob Marley, So Much Trouble

He may have once hit out against space travel (or more specifically, the disproportionate funds spent on it compared to social causes), but this year, reflections on the life and music of the late reggae king Bob Marley will echo beyond the stratosphere and back as XM Satellite radio network hosts a five-hour Bob Marley Birthday celebration on February 8, in The Joint, with presenter Dermot Hussey.

Bunny Wailer, sole survivor of the legendary group, recounts some of their colourful history, along with some of the best of their early work. Also The Art Of Bob Marley, by acclaimed poet Kwame Dawes, looks in detail at Marley's lyrical prowess. The programmme also features a tribute to Bob Marley by American guitarist, Bub Robert.

Other XM Black History month features will put the spotlight on Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit (about the lynching of Black Americans) trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, singers Natalie Cole and Al Jarreau and Myrlie Evers, the widow of slain NAACP leader Medgar Evers.